Is high school baseball necessary

I see where you are coming from. My son has played year-round baseball with travel since he was 10. He's a 2017 catcher. For him, HS baseball is a highlight of the year. The chance to truly play as a TEAM with many friends and former team mates going back to when he was 7. Plus, we live across the street so he rolls up with his catcher's bag for practices and home games and takes a bus to away game. Showcase team this summer and fall and PLENTY of time to enjoy HS ball and get in meaningful games, innings, and reps.

This!

HS baseball is ABSOLUTELY necessary.  Boys are becoming men, playing a sport that replicates life's model more than any other.  Forest for the trees my friend...forest for the trees.

While I think the role of HS baseball in recruiting has really diminished there is still a role for it.  My son loves HS ball.  Its a time for he and his friends to get together, compete and have fun.  He loves it in a different way then he loves travel baseball.  I think he views travel baseball as the grind he needs to go through to get to the next level.  While HS baseball is a little more loose and he can hangout and have fun while doing something he loves.

HS Baseball is 100% necessary. You don't always get to play with all the studs on your summer team, the age ranges foster a lot of "big brother" type cameradie with the upperclassmen, and most importantly, the PRIDE of playing for your SCHOOL!

 

 

This question has been asked many times on here.

 

Yes, HS baseball for all the reasons pointed out above and more - HS baseball is absolutely 'necessary.'

 

Some of the very best and a few of the worst baseball experiences for our sons were in HS baseball - and they learned how to grow up and become a man, from all of them.

 

100% necessary.

I think it's both of these dynamics at the same time.  There's nothing like playing for the HS... And it's interesting how different the school season is from the summer/travel season.  We have players passing on HS season to "train" for the summer... To each their own, but there's no doubt in my mind that these players are missing out on something very meaningful... Regardless of how competitive or maybe even dysfunctional their particular HS situation might be.

What kind of sport would baseball be if no one played it in high school?

 

I have never understood how a baseball player would not want to play baseball for his high school.  No matter how bad it might be, does he hate everything associated with it?

 

Is someone too good to play for their high school?  Are they only concerned with the level after high school?  If the answer is yes to either question, then there is something you should know.

 

Right now as I write this there are 30 Major League scouting departments spending a large amount of time and money, traveling all over the country.  What are they doing?  They are watching the very best high school prospects in the country play their final high school season before the June draft.  Guess what?  The very best draft prospects are playing baseball every spring, either in college or in high school. As always there are a few exceptions, very few exceptions in this case.

 

So is high school baseball necessary?  Ask those 30 MLB organizations what they think! Ask college coaches what they think! Ask those that have proven to be the most successful players what they think.

yes

You're rejecting cleats on the field in 100 meaningful HS games (now).... for the  reward of supposedly improving your odds to have cleats on the field in 200 meaningful college games (in the future.)  

It is if

You want to play with those guys you grew up with.

You want to represent your home town, school, community.

You want to have the experience of playing hs baseball.

You want to play against those guys from across town.

You want to help those guys that will probably never play past hs have success.

You want to be a part of those bus rides with your buddies.

You want to a part of something bigger than you.

You want to give your friends, peers, parents, family a chance to see you and your life long friends compete.

You want to sit around 20 years from now and share those memories with the guys you grew up with.

You want to help build something for those coming behind you.

You want to have the young kids in the community look up to you and aspire to one day wear your jersey.

You want to know what it feels like to watch guys play their last game of their life and they know it. And how it feels to fight like he ll to keep them playing just one more game.

You want to know what it feels like to help a young kid just enough that he gets an opportunity because you took the time to mentor him at the cage.

You want to know what it feels like to go to the park and it's not about you. It's about us.

You want to know what it feels like to simply play the game to win. Simply play the game for no other reason but to compete. Not to get exposure, not to get props, not to get recruited, to compete with your boys.

You want to have a place to come back to. A baseball home. Because one day you will come back home. A coach to go talk to. Former players to talk to. Memories that last a life time.

You want some more?

But if none of that fits you then no. Its not needed.

My 2016 decided to attend an Academy program at a HS that is not the local HS...so all of his friends that he grew up playing with play someplace else (also a HS in another town though).

 

Playing on his HS Baseball team has allowed him to develop all new friendships and allowed him to stand out on his own. He was always a leader when he was younger, and that has continued in HS. 

 

And now he plays against his friends he grew up with. He loves those games more than anything. Last year we had people from town (not anyway involved in HS Baseball) show up at our HS for this game just to see the local boys play against each other. 

Agree 100%!

Couldn't have said it better.

 

I'll only add one thing.  Ask my son (now playing ball at a D2 university) which games he remembers most, HS or travel.   HS by far.

 

With travel, there's always another game, another tournament.  Not so with HS (and college) as the season progresses one knows there is a finality to it.  The season is going to come to a conclusion at some point.

 

And as usual Coach May has posted another classic.  Great post Coach May!

I've seen many college recruiters at HS games, even pro scouts when there is someone to see. 

AND-my son likes seeing his girlfriend come watch him play for their school team. ��

This is where they learn to be a good teamate. Travel is great too, but I've seen kids fly in and out and some teams don't even stay together. 

Sr. Night in HS is a nice time too, esp gives boys opportunity to thank parents for their support. 

My son has had many opportunities arise because of his travel ball, showcases, etc.  No question they were important, and could have led to his baseball future.  However, the big opportunity that is coming his way, is because of HS Baseball.  We are truly grateful that another HS coach reached out to son's HS coach, and connected us with the college coach.  We are very lucky that these two stepped up to the plate for him.

 

All that being said, my son has had the opportunity to play for a program that builds men.  They have totally helped my son to grow-up, and to a large degree, they have taught me a lot too.

 

Playing with the kids he grew up with has been great too, and I don't think he would trade HS Baseball for anything.

Even though my 2018 just started the HS journey, my thoughts on this is that it is completely necessary (if the opportunity presents itself).  Practice 5-6 days per week in preparation of the upcoming season, then on days except game days seem to provide a "sample size" into what to expect if/when the player moves on to the next level.  You aren't at school, you don't play...you miss the bus, you don't play...your grades are lacking, you don't play...etc.  While travel is nice to do also, it doesn't seem as much of a "grind" as HS Ball.  Practices are not as frequent...parents drive you to and from practice/games...grades don't matter (for me they would :-)...etc.

If a player succeeds to a high level, he'll play in a variety of settings; each one enriching in its own way. While there's no question that playing on a strong travel team should get a player more :looks" from scouts and recruiters, that's far from the only reason to play baseball during the high school years.

 

My son's combination of experiences over the years has been very rich. They include 3 seasons of professional baseball, 3 College World Series (2 as a player, 1 as  a coach), 4 college teams (1 as a player, 3 as a coach), a trip to Japan with Bob Williams' Goodwill team, 4 seasons on the Cape (3 as a player, 1 as a coach), high level travel teams, and, yes, high school baseball.

 

For many of the reasons enumerated here, he considers his high school playing days as highly and important as any he's ever experienced; and, to this day, quite a few of his high school teammates continue to be among his closest friends.

This one is obvious, but not stated above......

 

High School baseball is free!

 

Or as close to it as most will ever get.

For me and my son's it is tradition as well. My youngest son who is the one playing college ball wanted to wear his older brothers HS jersey. Getting #3 was VERY important to him. He paid a junior his freshman year to get that number (I didn't know about that until later)   , knowing he would have "rights" to it after that. My 2nd son got to varsity his junior year, he didn't get #3 that his older brother wore that year. a senior had it. He made sure he got it his senior year. Two days ago, I went to a HS scrimmage, one of the sophomore's dad came up to me and told me his son worked hard to get #3 since Jeremy had it and he so much wanted to be like him. That made me proud. He, also, said his 8th grader and 6th grader were talking about getting that number when they got to varsity, because their older brother had it now. The tradition continues.

 

HS baseball is about caring if you win or lose. My boys always cared if they lost in travel ball, but by the time we were 20 miles down the road it was over, they were on to the next thing. In HS you are playing for something. Your best buds from your entire life, the senior so he can go out a winner when you are an underclassmen, for yourself and classmates when you are a senior, for your school, for your community. Jeremy and my other boys played lots of travel ball both basketball and baseball. Jeremy was on the news, made newspapers both local and regional etc. Not once for what he did in travel, all about his community.

 

When they each played their last travel games, we drove home. I was emotional (quietly)   because I knew something I cherished, the time with them was over. They were ok. A little sad but no big deal. When they played their last HS game, they were an emotional wreck for hours and days.

 

Simply put HS ball you get invested completely (at least for my family) in every aspect, Travel ball is more about self

I will be brief on this one.  Is it necessary?   Probably not absolutley necessary.  But it sure is a lot of fun.  I guess the real question is why would you not want to play hs ball?

Jolietboy, wish I knew how to be brief sometimes I want to say one sentence and what you get is above

       
       
If you have ever gotten to the end of one of my posts you are probably aware brevity is not my strong point!  But to me this one is just pretty simple.

Good thing...  awesome post.  Conveyed the essence of HS ball.

Is HS baseball necessary to play college ball – Not at all.

 

Is it awesome – Yes!

 

Some reasons – many more have already been stated

 

Crowd

Showcase – maybe 50 parents, a few recruiters on a good day

HS – 200-300 fans cheering

 

PA introductions and walk up music:

Showcase – No

HS – Yes!

 

Cost

Showcase - $1,500+ travel

HS - $13 hat

 

Do wins matter

Showcase – No

HS – Yes!

 

Name/picture in paper

Showcase – Never

HS - Maybe

I need to move wherever you are...sure as heck isn't free here!  Between pay to play fee to the school and booster and uniform costs the cost/game average is actually higher than summer travel ball.

 

You guys' comments have softened my position on the necessity of HS ball.  I was a naysayer but it's because I don't like the reduction in my son's playing time and the "all-inclusive" nature of HS ball at least in this district.  

Around here big club soccer premiere programs don't allow players to play on their HS teams if they want to be a member of their A1 teams which feed into certain colleges, soccer USA etc. I asked my S if baseball ever went that route, would he give up a chance to play HS to play for an elite AAU? He said heck, no!  He pointed out in particular the representation of your high school and going against the rivals! and playing for a state championship. As other posters mentioned, memories you could look back on. Sort of like Harvard not scheduling Yale one year to play another team.

When my son started playing travel baseball full time at thirteen he said the one thing he missed about LL and LL all stars was working to the culmination of a season that became "win or go home." He also enjoyed being a mini celebrity for how well his all star team performed. He parlayed that into free desserts at Rita's.

 

High school brought all that back. There's something special about playing for and representing your area/town. Sure, travel ball is a better quality of ball. Sure, travel ball is the best avenue to college ball. But no one but the parents give's a rat's behind about the Bombers versus the Aces baseball game. Get to high school districts and watch the crowd show up along with the sportswriters and the news.

With all the travel baseball and softball games (and other sports) I watched my kids play my two biggest memories are from high school (for each of them) were when the winning run scored to clinch the conference the first time. Both were walk off wins. Both kids were in high school programs that were perennial losers until they got there. My kids were part of changing the mentality, the tradition and the expectations.

 

And I have a great closeup picture (from the newspaper) of my daughter getting picked off third after rounding too far. I pulled it out a couple of times to remind her she's not perfect. She wasn't happy the picture was in the paper.

Yep.  You won't get the crowds like you do at a HS game. Nor do the sportswriters show up at travel/showcase.

During my son's senior year, the crowds at the baseball games increased 3 fold once it became apparent they were playoff bound.  Went from averaging 50-60 per game to over 200.  State quarterfinals saw a very large contingent show up (over 200) considering it was 90 miles from home.

Q: "Is high school baseball necessary"

 

A: Necessary for what?  No sport is necessary.  Most kids like to play in their community with friends they grew up with.  In the context of travel baseball, high school baseball is a nice contrast to the "everybody who can stroke a check can be on a travel team" mentality.  JMO.  

 

I hope that those who don't understand, will read this, and re-read this as long as is necessary to sink in!

 

And for the record, I believe that BOTH serve very important roles.

When my son was a freshman in college, a sophomore from his high school made varsity.  He texted my son and asked if he could have his jersey number that my son wore for 3 years on varsity.  It's not like my son was a legend, but I guess the fact he wore it for 3 years meant something to this other player.  I thought it was kinda cool.  I doubt any player in a travel organization cared what number an older player wore.

 

Tonight, my son's old high school will be playing their huge cross town rival in the championship game of a big pre season tournament.  Neither team has ever made the finals.  My son is trying to get some former teammates together to go.  While my son has gone back to the training facility, he hasnt been to any games the summer team has played since he left.

 

After his last high school game, I stood by the sidewalk as the team walked to the boss after the loss in districts.  Every senior was crying, and most of the underclassmen.  After his last summer game, none of the boys were crying.  They all knew they were all going off to play college ball in a few weeks.

Completely understand. We (my wife and I) had all levels of playing participation as a parent. Our first son was on the team, Rarely played. I think he got something like 12-15 at bats all year as a senior. Class was loaded with talent and he was a "good" player. They had a special year that year. Made it to the state final 4. Riding the coattails of 3 especially good players. Hard to watch sometimes, wanting my son to get in there so bad and show them what he had. Not because it wasn't fun to watch a very good team, but because we wanted it for him. It took me a while but I came to realize he was ok with it all. He knew exactly where he stood on the team, He loved every minute of the team and cherished those moments when got a chance. Still talks about his big double to drive in a couple of runs to win a game. He still "flaunts" his state final 4 ring to his brothers.

 

2nd son had to work very hard to get on the field as a catcher, Made varsity his junior year and started his senior year. His senior year he was a captain, vocal leader. Team recognized his leadership. He was a good player, hit 6th or 7th. played most of games. his team was good but did not execute in a playoff game they should have won from a talent POV and was out. He is still a leader. Was a leader in college in whatever he did. Put 2 softball teams together to still compete. works hard as a teacher and someday will be a coach.

 

3rd son journey still continues as a college freshman, but in HS he was "the man" on a baseball field. Got to Varsity about halfway thru freshman year. Never came off the field after that. Best this and that both as hitter and pitcher from sophomore year on. All this and that as a junior and senior. Easy being his parent. Never had to worry about his playing time or position with team. What I am most proud of with him is his humility, he knew how hard his brothers had to work to get any playing time. He always treated the guys that were in his brothers shoes as equals on the team. Cheered them on and celebrated with them more than when he accomplished something. It has served him well in college so far now that he is learning how hard it is to get on the field

 

The one thing I got to learn early as a parent is the other side of the coin from the kid who got little playing time. I completely understood when parents where frustrated with playing time. BUT what I found is my kids no matter where they were on the food chain on the team, knew EXACTLY where they were on it and were ok with it. They understood that some were better and some were not as good of players.

 

For you parents frustrated, be positive with your boys. Team first. I know it is hard, but they actually probably know where they are.

 

For parents who's kids have always been on the field, empathize with those parents frustrated. One thing I read on hear a lot is put the work in. ALL of my boys put the work in. They all sacrificed time, gave great effort, showed up early, were good teammates, etc. But from a playing time they had vastly different experiences. So empathize for those that are frustrated.

 

Coaches, make sure you let your players know where they stand. I kind of like the idea of parent/ player coach preseason meeting that is on a thread here somewhere. Not because the parents should have a say in how you run your team, but to tell them what to expect. And to let both the player and parent know what the player can do to get better and possibly improve his position / playing time.

 

My 2 cents for the day

Chef I completely agree.  Communication can be difficult some times but also necessary.   Sadly we play summer ball so we don't even start.til may 15.  We had a coaches meeting last night and I expressed some of my ideas to communicate better.  I think its important player and parent alike know where they stand and more importantly why.  I am inviting.parents to any pitching instruction I do this year.  If they literally want ti stand with me during their son's pen that's fine.  I made the offer in basketball as well for parents to come and observe practice.  None did but guess what?  They still felt free to complain!

Chef mike that's an excellent post.  An being a parent in both positions with the same kid, I get it.  And the more I think about it and the other post about coach/parent/player meetings, I wholeheartedly support good communication from coaches.  I struggled thru a whole basketball season watching my kid's frustration at not getting a chance.  At the final awards banquet, they called him a "practice player" and it all finally clicked.  Had I known that they made such a "mistake" in the talent evaluation of the kid, I could have advised him much better.  Funny thing was they admitted the "practice" team would frequently beat the "starters" in practice.  Go figure. 

Joliet, you can lead them to water but can't make them drink! I have 70 employees, I get the same thing at work. Open door, lets talk about any issues, problems, ideas, how to be more efficient, etc. Those that do 9about 8-10 of them), get answers, feel like they are part of team/solutions, etc. those that don't gripe and complain sometimes about how it is done.

 

I have told them over and over, be part of the solutions for progress or what you say has no validity to me. Same with those parents!

FYI, East Cobb Baseball Spring teams generally start after the HS baseball season ends.  A player does NOT have to choose between playing for their HS or playing for ECB.

I remember when we moved to the community and my son started playing ball. He was in 8th grade. Everyone talked about the kid who graduated from his high school who had made All State. Like he was a legend or something.

 

Now there's a plaque in the high school with my son's name on it. All State in baseball, 2013. It had been 6 years since anyone from his high school had been All State in baseball before my son made it.

 

Someday he can show his kids that plaque.

 

He played on travel teams, he played Legion. Now he plays in college. He wouldn't trade his high school baseball experience for anything.

 

 

 

       
       
we do have the odd situation here that about 40 teams here still play summer baseball.  That does make this decision realky difficult for the college bound player.  And most do not play hs ball.  Other than our localized oddball situation I can't imagine why a young man would not want to play for his high school.

For some reason when this topic comes up, it seems like it turns into a discussion about the negative aspects of Travel Baseball.  Is there a reason why both HS and Summer baseball can't both be very good experiences?

 

As I've stated many times, I believe HS baseball is something every young baseball player should be a part of.  I have nothing bad to say about HS baseball.  I think it is very important.

 

That said... This notion of Travel Ball and not caring about winning is something we just don't see at the highest levels.  Over all, there are more fans at a HS game, but we have had over 200 scouts and college coaches, let alone parents, attend travel ball games.

 

We see the emotions, the dog piles, the intensity, the arguments, the disappointments, etc.  The best prospects are winners, they play to win when they are on the field.  Every time a player sets foot on a field, be it HS or Travel, they want to perform their best individually.  So "self" is always part of baseball. It doesn't change your desire to win the game.

 

I suppose their are teams where all it takes is writing a check.  There are also teams where writing the check is meaningless, it won't get you on the team.

 

My point is, just as their are different levels of HS baseball, there are different levels of Travel baseball.  There is some good and bad in both.  I just don't understand why in supporting one, the other needs to take a hit.  No problem if someone believes HS baseball is the best experience of all.  In fact, in many ways I actually believe that and will stick up for HS baseball always.  But baseball is baseball, the most important thing is playing the game and whatever team you are on at that time is the most important at that time.  One might be preferred, but there is no reason to bash the other.

 

BTW, pretty much every East Cobb kid I have ever known played HS baseball.